(PhysOrg)
...Over the past year, using high flux neutron sources at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, an Illinois group led by Yang Zhang, assistant professor of nuclear, plasma, and radiological engineering and Beckman Institute at Illinois, has been able to videotape the molecular movement of alkanes, the major component of petroleum and natural gas...12/7

(Kentucky Ag Connection) As part of an effort to develop drought-resistant food and bioenergy crops, scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have uncovered the genetic and metabolic mechanisms that allow certain plants to conserve water and thrive in semi-arid climates...12/7

Science and Technology

(NY Times) ...The study by scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., published on Monday in Nature Climate Change, found that across the country, rainstorms may become more frequent and intense if greenhouse gas emissions remain at current levels...12/6

(NPR) ...Pew surveyed 1,520 Americans 18 and older. According to the study, 20 percent of Americans feel overloaded by information — down from 27 percent a decade ago. In fact, three-quarters of Americans like having a lot of information at their disposal...12/7

Energy and Science Policy

(AIP) ...Among its numerous provisions, the bill allocates $4.8 billion over 10 years to the National Institutes of Health in support of the Obama administration’s Cancer Moonshot, BRAIN, and Precision Medicine Initiatives, and creates a Research Policy Board...12/16

DOE

(Energy.gov) In remarks to the delegates of an event hosted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest J. Moniz today announced in Austria that the United States is beginning consultations with the IAEA to monitor the dilution and packaging of up to six metric tons of surplus plutonium at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in Aiken, South Carolina...12/5

Local and State

(Knoxville News Sentinel)
The federal government on Wednesday banned mountaintop coal mining from more than 500 miles of ridges in East Tennessee’s Cumberland Mountains, handing a victory to the state and to conservationists who have long sought to protect the region’s forests and streams...12/7

(Knoxville News Sentinel)
A blink-of-an-eye power disruption can mean days of lost production for a factory, but a little-known Knoxville research organization has devoted 30 years to making sure that problem and others don't happen...12/5

(Oak Ridge Today)
The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education is currently accepting applications for the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2017 Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship Program, or MLEF, which is a 10-week summer program for students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math...12/7

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